Okiseius subtropicus Ehara, 1967

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Mouigni, Hadji, Douin, Martial, Tixier, Marie-Stéphane & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, New records of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Grande Comore Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (2), pp. 241-273 : 244

Okiseius subtropicus Ehara

Okiseius subtropicus Ehara 1967: 77, 1975: 33 , Ehara & Hamaoka 1980: 6, Wu & Qian 1983:

75, Moraes et al. 1986: 102, 2004b: 155, Corpuz­Raros & Garcia 1994: 366, Ehara et al. 1994: 136, Wu et al. 1997: 142, Chant & McMurtry 2003b: 202, 2007: 43.

Platyseiella (Noeledius) subtropicus, Tseng 1976: 102 .

Proprioseius (Okiseius) subtropicus, Karg 1983: 302 .

Amblyseius (Kampimodromos) subtropicus, Ueckermann & Loots 1985: 195 .

Amblyseius subtropicus, Chant & Yoshida­Shaul 1989: 1020 .

Okiseius (Okiseius) subtropicus, Kolodochka & Denmark 1996: 235 .

Amblyseius (Okiseius) subtropicus, Ehara & Amano 1998: 45 .

Okiseius wui Denmark & Kolodochka in Kolodocka & Denmark 1996: 235 (synonymy according to Walter 1999).

There are 17 species in the genus Okiseius ( Chant and McMurtry 2003b, 2007) divided in two species group based on the situation of seta R1, on of off dorsal shield, the subtropicus and the maritimus species groups. With setae R1 inserted on the dorsal shield of females, O. subtropicus belongs to the first one. Nothing is known about the biology of this species. This is the first record of O. subtropicus outside Asia and Oceania. This species is reported to be a predator of the eriophyoid mites Aculops pelekassi (Keifer) on citrus in Japan ( Ehara et al. 1994) and Phyllocoptruta oleivora in China ( Yang 1986). Although originally described from a single adult female mite from Okinawa Island ( Ehara 1967), O. subtropicus is now known from Japan (Honshu) ( Ehara and Hamaoka 1980 ; Ehara et al. 1994), China (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi) (Wu et al. 1997), Taiwan ( Tseng 1976), the Philippines (Leyete) ( Corpuz­Raros & Garcia 1994), Russia ( Kolodochka and Denmark 1996 ; Wu et al. 1997), and Australia ( Walter 1999).

World distribution: Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan.

Specimens examined: five specimens (4 ♀♀ and 1 ♂) collected during this study. Moroni, Le Kalyptus Hotel (24 m aasl, lat. 11°40 ′ 58 ″ S, long. 43°15 ′ 45 ″ E), 3 ♀♀ and 1 ♂ on Lantana camara L. (Verbenacae) with eriophyid galls and 1 ♀ on Solanum torvum Swartz (Solanacae) , 7/XII/2018.

Remarks: measurements of morphological characters of O. subtropicus female and male specimens from Grande Comore Island ( Tables 1 and 2) are very close to measurements of specimens from countries of South­East and Eastern Asia ( China, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines) and specimens from Australia.